Copic Swatch Book Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today is the big day! I’m 30 as of 12:12pm it better be one dang good lunch today is all I’m sayin! But I also want to give a really big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my birthday buddy Diana! Love ya girl!!!

Welcome back to Copic Week! Every post this week has a Copic theme. For today’s How To I have a Copic Swatch Book I made that you can take with you, add to and is complete with tabs to help you organize. Sound like fun? Let’s get started!

To make this little book you’ll need a stamp that fits what you’ll be swatching (I used Sweet Thinkin Mae so I could do skin and hair and clothes combos), copic safe stamp ink, your normal coloring paper, hole punch, jump ring, paper cutter, some pattern papers and adhesive and your Dymo Label Maker (optional) and corner rounder (optional).

First thing is to take your coloring paper, I’m using Copic X-Press It, and cut sheets for your book of 2.5″ x 4.25′. This size will get you 8 pages per sheet. I cut up 4 sheets to start with.

Next punch a hole in the upper left corner that fits your Ring. I used the large punch size on my big bite along with the guide to keep the holes in about the same spot.

Now take your patterned paper that you want to use for your covers and cut 2 pieces of 2.75″ x 4.5″ this will give a little buffer to your actual pages. You’ll also want to cut 5 pieces of the same size for your dividers. Then line up your dividers and covers with the hole punch to keep that buffer and punch your holes. I wanted to make sure the front and back of mine were the same pattern so if you do make sure to flip the back to get the whole on the correct side 🙂

Next comes stamp assembly line. Make sure to put your stamp toward one side or the other so you have room for notes and color spots.

While those are drying decorate your cover.

For the tabs on your dividers cut 5 squares 1″ x 1.5″ and fold them in half. If you want to round the corners.

The next part is a matter of preference but decide what sections you’d like and create labels for your tabs. I used my Dymo and made blonde, brown and black for hair colors. The last two I’m undecided on lol. Then you will eyeball your tabs on the 5 dividers and adhere them so you can see them from the side. The easiest way to eyeball them is to place one at the top, one at the bottom then one in the middle first. Then finding the spots for the last two will be much easier.

Lastly start putting your pages, covers and dividers onto your ring. I started with my back cover then divided my stamped pages between the dividers threading the groups on together. The great part about the ring is that its really easy to rearrange and add pages!

This book is really handy to keep with your copics and jot down those combos you discover and love in a small size.

Here’s one of my pages:

To go along with this little (or not so little lol) how to I have a little giveaway for you! Sponsored by the folks at Copic Markers!

Leave a comment telling us what’s the one thing you’d like to learn more about when using your copics and you’ll be entered to win a 4 pack of Copic Sketch Markers! (colors may vary from pic) Simple as that! You have thru October 29th to get your comment in and we’ll announce the winner in our big winners post on October 31st 🙂

First off “Happy Birthday, hope you have a fabulous day!!”
Second, the thing I have the hardest time with is clothing pleats, or shading in clothing that is not necessarily on the stamp itself.
Hugs~Bren

I would love to learn how you do the noses. Everytime I try it I either erase the line I created with the lighter color or it looks like I just drew it on and I can not get it to blend right 🙁
I am currently working on a “tutorial book” for my fav color mixes too so your blog today was helpful. I am also going to have a section in my book for what I call “Funky” mixtures (outside the family colors).
Great job on your blog today I enjoyed it! I enjoy checking on your work daily 🙂
Shari

Happy Birthday, may ALL your wishes come true! I WISH I could win at least 1 or 2 Copics. I have not used them as yet but I see that they do some awesome projects. Thanks for the chance to give them a try. Claire

Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a wonderful day. I love Copic’s and this is a great idea and super cute.
I would like to learn more about hair colors. I tend to stick with one color and thats always brown.

I really like that idea. Because I’m still new at it … using consistent images – helps make choices for the next project that much quicker.
What to learn … still so much. Need to learn to perfect my blending 1. by my colour choices 2. and by the strokes I use

Happy Happy Birthday have the best day ever.
I have never used copic Markers but I have seen the Videos on the site and I would love to start using Copic. I have some marker but in the video for them I know they are better then the ones I have. I would love to know how to blend with the markers. I love the Swatch books you have made. great colors. Thanks for sharing and for the chance to win this very cool Giveaway.

Happy Happy Happy Birthday!! Hope your day is simply AWESOME!
What a fabulous tutorial today. I’m going to make one for myself! I’d like to learn to blend better than I do. I need more practice I guess.
Again, happy birthday! *birthday dance*

I would just like to learn more of the basics. I currently cannt go out and add new tools to my crafting supplies that I might not know how to use effectively, so need to know more before I can take the Copic leap. Thanks for the chance to win, might be my leap =)

First, this is a GORGEOUS book! Can I win that?! 😉 Second, I REALLY need to learn better hair techniques for Copics. Mine is the old school coloring where you blend them all together. I really like the hair that you can see the strands on!

Happy Birthday! 😀
I’m just getting started with Copics, so I could use more tips on anything. In particular, I was wondering if you had any strategies/suggestions to help me learn not to be so heavy-handed when I’m coloring. I tend to do this no matter what I’m working with (e.g. I press hard when I write, when I use other markers/pencils/crayons, etc.). I guess it seems to just be my “style” but I don’t want to go through my ink so quickly. Any tips?

Wow! I love this book idea. Would you believe I really wanted to know about making textures and loved the tutorial yesterday. I think the next thing I’d like to know about are color combinations for red hair.

Wow WHAT a fun idea!! love it and can’t wait to make one for myself!!! and I’m always dieing to know color combos!!! What works good for hair, skin, clothes – especially those that don’t involve trios!
Hugs,
M

I’m loving the tutorials this week! So many great ideas. What I would probably want to know more about is 1) the actual coloring technique – brush strokes, circles, etc. Everyone seems to recommend a different method of coloring. 2) how to blend/match colors that aren’t in the same color family – or – aren’t right next to each other in color chart numbers.

Can i just say, I’ve enjoyed each post soooo much so far… you’re really spoiling us with information and I love it. I would love to learn how to actually leave the white part of the paper uncolored for the highlight area so it’s the brightest. kwim? I have a hard time with that, so any tips would be fab!!

Happy birthday Kristy! WOO! 30 is a big milestone! Do take your time to enjoy it, because you’ll be 31 before you know it! 😉 Take it from me, I’m turning 31 tomorrow! lol

I really love that swatchbook! I usually just stick to a few trusty colour combo’s, because I don’t want to ruin the image by trying something new. This is a great way to experiment with some colours and see which ones work and which ones don’t!

Happy Birthday Kristy! Sure, I missed the big day. 🙁 Hope you had a great day! I love your book idea! I’ve done a few colorings that I made notes on that I keep in a manila folder. Now I know a better way to keep my notes! I even have some of the jump rings, because I use them to keep my daughter’s bday cards together so she can look and enjoy them, but they’re not all over my floor! The thing I really need to learn about is coloring eyes. I have hazel, and have no idea how to color that, but even blue and brown I need hints with. I’ve watched your hair coloring tuts and they helped bunches! I had to order some extra colors (oh darn 🙂 ) so I can get the same results.

Happy Birthday Kristy
I would like to learn:
1. to blend the colors so it is no border between them.
2. getting the details of a complexion. ie. the bridge of a nose , freckles, etc
3. backgrounds colored with copics. I always have such a problem painting background scenes with markers.

Great idea on this swatch book! I also hope you are having a great bday month! The things I would love to learn more about with copics is how to emphasize different parts of the face…nose, freckles, etc…also, color combos…I am not good at combining colors….of course if they are in the same color family, not a problem but otherwise no…when it comes to doing clothes I am always stumped on what colors to use…

Happy Birthday!!!…I celebrated my b-day on the 10th!!…I had a wonderful and hope your day is/was as good as mine!!

I would love to learn more about shading with Copics…what colors are best with what colors…etc!!…It can be a bit overwhelming at times…but then I just remind myself that I am crafting and it is suppose to be fun…not stressful!!

Both…LOL!…I know you’re suppose to use colors that are close together…to blend easily…but I have also noticed that people use colors that aren’t close together…how do you know what blends well…or just as long as they are in the same color family…make sense???…LOL!!

Happy Birthday Kristy. Hope you have a blessed day and a blessed month. You are blesssing all of us all the time with your talent. I think I would like to know how to blend skin color better. It seems like I can always see streaks in the skin. I use anyhere from E0000 to E13 usually but I wind up with streak a lot of the times even if I do circles.

Happy Birthday… i hope you had/have a great day.
I would love to know how to create some interesting backgrounds using copics as well as some monochrome colouring – not just black and white’s
cheers
Sally

Happy Birthday!!! Hope your day is awesome. I love the copic book with the combos of colors that work to make your cards awesome.
I would love to learn to do noses, and eyes ..ok FACES.. I seem to do ok with cheeks but the rest of the face throws me.

Love the swatch book since I’ve been trying to put a listing together for me of the same stuff that works. Don’t like spending lots of time coloring and realizing you don’t like it. Love working with copics though!!!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Kristy!
I would love to learn more about shading and creating backgrounds with Copics. I also need to learn how to use my Copic ABS (maybe also for backgrounds). Your Copic Swatch Book is amazing and I should make one for me.
Kind regards from one 30-year-old to the other :o)
(Entry 81 – like our birth year – giggle)
Anja

Hi Kristy, a belated Happy Birthday to you!
I love my copic sketchers! I still struggle with blending without it looking blotchy. And I would love to know how to substitute a family of colors if I don’t have a certain shade.
Love your tutorials, thanks for sharing.

Kristy, well Happy Birthday, a day late and a dollar short, sorry, Hope you had a great day yesterday, and wishing you many more!! Love the swatch book great idea to keep track of color combos and also tips and tricks, I have them jotted all over, nice neat little package you made! Thanks

I need more help in a few areas, noses, shadowing around them to create depth, red hair, backgrounds, and how to blend colors that are no where near matching or in the same family or like the new fluorescent colors.
Thanks much for all this information and inspiration!!

Happy, happy birthday to you! My question is very simple. I’m just beginning to use Copics and want to know what your recommendations are as to a basic, “must-have” set. What colors (and combos) do you consider as must haves?

I need to know what the best colors would be for a beginner to learn basic shading, etc. I have one set and do not have any of the colors to use with it for shading. It is the one that has the red, yellow, orange, purple, green, black & brown etc. Great set for plain coloring but no shading.

Trisha, what I would do is to get a few greys. Probably the Ns like N1, N3 and N5. That way you can shade about any color with those. It will stretch out the colors you do have until you can expand your color groups 🙂

I would really loved to learn how to leave the “white space” using my Copics. Really, I am just getting started but my white space in hair or on clothing never looks right and I end up not having any. How is this done?

Copic colouring areas of interest:-
– shadows on the ground etc,
– keeping strokes separate ( I will go watch hair video now),
– grass and grounds,
– backgrounds – covering large areas
– LEAVING WHITE SPACE!! Like most Newbies I get too close to the area I planned to leave white/worry about uneven edges and eventually colour it in!

Sorry about the large list – it’s because you’re such a great teacher. xx

Hope your birthday was a blast! And I hope you have your best year yet! I would like to learn how people achieve the dark coloring look – what combos they use – do they use gray over their colors or complementary colors?

Happy Birthday fellow Libra!!!! Wait, are you a Libra? Im so bad at the signs that I dont know when the Libras begin. Lol.
Either way, your an October baby and in my opinion thats the Best month to celebrate 🙂
Yay!!!!!!
Jess M
Ps. Thanks for the swatch book idea!